, 1887-11-27
TIE TURTLE AT HOME.
Now tho Daiianla Negroes Harvest the
C~rop-CRptara of "A Prize.

Af'N WV AAAh #NFETDfH harvest IL
Crop-CRptrrs of "A Prize.
The green turtle Of the metropolitan
restaurant. when it does not come from
tn" rcmn1uts Of the roast veal and fried
chicken Of the day b.fDrc, comes chiefly
from the Bahamas and from Nassau, the
Only city of the Bahamas. They are
harvested also in Cuba, Hayti and at
many points on the southern coast, but
in the Bahama Islands they seem to find
the richest feeding grounds. Circuit
Justice J.. D.. Powles, of Bahama Island,
whose experience has been ample, telling
low the amiable and luscious beast is
captured in his ncighborhood, says:
These families who live in the out
Islands and do all the turtle fishing that
II not done by the strictly business
sChooners and men from Nassau, have
for n home n house whose walls are built
Of coral limestone, roughly plastered to-
gether n rooted with palmetto thatch.
There are probably twelve or fourteen in
the family, md they all live in one little
room, pretty nearly bare of furniture.
Nobody but papa and mamma rise to the
dignity of n bed. The rest can sleep any
where. When not asleep, nearly all
their lives are spent out of doors. Behind
the house is some big tree, where mother
cooks and washes and father whacks her
and the children by turns. unless, as &C.
casionally happens, she is boss, and does
the whacking herself. They have not
much need of money, for they can grow
oranges, bananas and other tropical fruits
in plenty. with corn and sweet potatoes,
and fish is to be had for the catching.
But the out-islandet stands sometimes in
reed of clothes and groceries, which nave
- lA ~ e.. ~ 81
produce cash or its substitute, he occa-
sionally goes off on a turtling expedition.
After days of postponing and putting off,
b. finally pulls himself together, aud off
lie goes, pressing all his family into the
service. There is not much need to close
VI the house, for there are no robbers.
and no probable intruder except the hogs,
which don't count. Still he probably
shuts it up, for de Dol of de ting, for
the darby is very punctillious about GER
tain matters.
Tho turtle beach may be many miles
away, but most likely he has a boat, in
which he manages to reach it in the
course of n few hours. All the party
have bare feet, but otherwise are dressed
much h same as civilized people. Ex-
ternal decency is one of those matters on
which the Bahamian negro is most scru-
pulous.
ARRIVED at the turtle beach, he puts
one of the boys in the boat and lets him
row along it, while the rest of the party
walk, keeping a sharp lookout for turtles.
Sometimes the beach is ten miles long,
and perhaps the party draw the whole of
it blank, in which case they beach the
boat and camp out for the night. Per-
haps they have the luck to SEQ a monster
green turtle before they nave measured
half the distance. If the party is in luck
and sights n monster female turtle of 800
pounds. laying her eggs in the hot sand
a little ahead, the party divides at onco
and the chattering ccases-silence is
a necessary element of success. One
half of the party make for the water
10 cut off her retreat; the other half steal
n~oiselcssly up and turn her on her back
IA tough job in the case of II turtle rs
big as 800 pounds. once on her Jack she
is helpless, and some of the other party
20 off in search of palmetto leaves or
tough grass with which to tie her fins,
while the othera stand round and talk to
her, jeering and making game of her for
lorn condition, taking care, however, to
give her mouth a wide berth. for she IS
still able to bite with considerable effect.
Nlti Tie OLlltlH ltluIu llltN CUT SllLS Ill.
lcr fins and tie them back tightly to-
gcthcr. Thus secured, she is carried on
board the boat and given in charge of the
boy, while the land contingent start on
their road rejoicing, in search of another
victim. Before going on, though. they
will lunch on the eggs their prisoner has
left behind her. These eggs arc a deli
cacy much priced in Nassau, but proba-
bly, by the time they get there they will
have gone bad, and it is only on rare oc-
c~asions, when turtles are caught in New
Providence or its immediate ncighbor-
hood, that they are found in the market.
THE eggs disposed Of, the party moves
ON once more, and perhaps, just at the
close of the day, catches n h|awksbill, n
good deal smaller in size, but quite as
valuable, for this time the value is in the
shell, not III the weight. This is n good
days work; the family row home con
tented, and place their turtles in a cool
place to await the chance of n ship to
carry them up to Nassau"
Another way of catching turtles is the
| par-lug of them in shoal water-that is,
s.rl.iaE them with a grain or two
p.oAgDd spear. This way is adopted by
vessels engaged in tho turtle fisheries, but
it can only be used in the case of green
turtles, as it damages the shell.
Besides the green turtles and hawk
bills, there is another species called the
luhhorhead, which is Of no practical use
at all. Tho flesh of both the latter spe-
cics is considered valurIcs9, but the
natives manage to make substantial
meals ont of them all the same.
Most of the turtles taken are females.
for it is the females only that como ashore
for the purpose Of laying their eggs. the
males remaining usually in much deeper
water Tie female is easily distinguished
from the male by her tail. which IS so
short IS to be absolutely nominal, while
his usually averages six or eight inches in
length. New York Sun.
The Camcls OF Texas.
In 1852 the United States government